<p>^^
FLVADAD
gotta agree with you there…our bank account is certainly happier for her choice :)</p>
<p>It’s definitely going to be a mutual decision between us & D2, just like it was with D1 four years ago. </p>
<p>Here’s how we did it then. About a month before the drop-dead May 1 date, I took 6 pieces of paper, representing the six schools to which D1 was accepted (with D2 it’ll be 4). At the top of each sheet was the full price out-the-door, and then I subtracted the scholarships for each & circled the annual net cost times four, so she could see the cost differences over a period of years. And then I left her alone with her thoughts, because only she knew how she felt about each individual school.</p>
<p>D1 came back with the cost right in the middle, and it turned out to be a wonderful choice for her. D2 saw this process back then & accepts it now. The basic onus is on her, but these girls are intelligent, they know the economic score, and hopefully can weigh & determine value.</p>
<p>D2’s four schools include flagship in-state public (ranked in top 25), two adjacent state publics (both in top 50), and a small in-state private, highly ranked as well. Each has a different focus, and we’re hoping that D2 is enjoying the journey.</p>
<p>This thread is all very new and applicable to me. It’s interesting. I’ve read ~40 pages of it.</p>
<p>I’m a high school senior, national merit semifinalist, looking at colleges. (duh.) I live in Arizona, and U of A offers 15k/year to national merit finalists, when tuition+room+board+books equals about 14.4k/year. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I’m not a 1450 kid. I’m not a 1350 kid. I’m a 1550 kid. I’m in the application process for the presidential scholarship at Georgia Tech, and applying to Stanford. But, if I don’t get the scholarship at gatech, I don’t know how I could justify paying 100k-150k on my undergrad years when I could get through them for free.</p>
<p>I mean, seriously, there are enough opportunities at U of A to take advantage of and get into grad school (I plan on double majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science, with a minor in Computer Engineering) at MIT, or Stanford, or Georgia Tech, or wherever I want to go after this. </p>
<p>I’m having a REALLY hard time even justifying finishing my Stanford app now (my parents make just enough to make them pay more than I feel they should have to). If I can excel as a 18 year old at a sub-par public high school, I can excel as a 21 year old at a quality public university.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t make any assumptions about admission to graduate school at places such as MIT or Stanford. Graduate admission in CS at these schools is often more selective than admission to their undergraduate colleges. You also have to realize there will be other highly talented students at UA (and other excellent public Us) vying for the same spots. </p>
<p>You may find out that with their more generous finaid policies, widely available work-study and paid research opportunities, MIT and Stanford may actually be cheaper than many public universities. Unlike most public universities now being forced to raise their tuition and cut back on scholarships and resources, the elite colleges, with their large endowments, are well protected in this economic downturn.</p>
<p>I’m so glad this thread has been put up again.</p>
<p>Kids named as Rhodes Scholars has just come out. There are lots of Ivys and top tier schools. But there are also many other schools.</p>
<p>These are outstanding young men and women. But…it shows that truly outstanding young men and women can achieve even if they’re not at an Ivy League schools. </p>
<p>Here are the final winners bios:</p>
<p><a href=“Office of the American Secretary | The Rhodes Scholarships”>http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/PDF/2008/final_winners_bios_11_22_08.pdf</a></p>
<p>(FYI…The winner from NY at CCNY won first place at Intel/STS in 2005…$100,000. I don’t think he’s paying much, if anything , to go to CCNY. Also a Goldwater and Truman Scholar. Doesn’t look like his education or opportunities “suffered” by going to CCNY!)</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>When I graduated from high school, my stats were good enough to get me into almost any school (especially since I was a female valedictorian looking to study engineering!). I chose my hometown school, the University of Texas. My friends were amazed that I didn’t look at schools such as MIT. Back then, UT was only $4 a credit hour, and they also gave me a scholarship. I saw no point in spending the extra $10,000 / year (the good old days) to go to another school.</p>
<p>I never regretted my decision. I had a wonderful education at UT, where I got my BS and MS. I got to take classes from and do research with internationally-known professors. One of my employers told me he could really tell the difference between my education and that of his other staff members.</p>
<p>Right now, the Civil Engineering Department at UT boasts 21 National Academy of Engineering members. A few of them are retired, but that number blows me away. The ones I know are accessible and love teaching.</p>
<p>So that was my experience, although I know it might be different for other people.</p>
<p>< b u m p ></p>
<p>Not sure why this thread was bumped…but…OP’s daughter just started her first year at Yale Med School.</p>
<p>There’s a wonderful post from him from a couple of days ago on this thread:</p>
<p>Pre-Med Topics<br>
2009-2010 Med school applicants</p>
<p>I would love to hear the views of people who made one choice or the other, now that several years have passed.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s not really the time of year when kids are pondering the Big Decision.</p>
<p>But I’ll chime in with my son’s experience so far (just graduated from HS, took the full ride at excellent public uni for computer science (probably)). He turned his HS resume (many APs, CS experiences) into an internship already this summer, even before he started school. This was through the uni and DARPA. He also staffed a couple of CS camps (volunteer). So when he goes looking for co-ops next summer, he’ll have a few things on his resume. </p>
<p>Not to mention the CS profs already knowing who he is because of this summer’s work. So far, he’s very happy with his choice.</p>
<p>PLUS, from a personal development standpoint, he has met and worked on a team with upperclassmen. As a slightly shy nerd, this is a good thing!</p>
<p>I think attitude is everything when it comes to these decisions. If the student is thrilled to take the scholarship, 99% of the time it’s going to turn out well. If the student is heartbroken, feels ripped off, resentful, etc., you’re in for trouble.</p>
<p>^^^Yep, you hit the nail on the head, Hanna. It’s always easier if the student is going somehere he or she is looking forward to attending even if not the “dream” school, scholarship or not. But when they feel they’ve been put on a forced march to purgatory it can be a real problem - even if it’s free.</p>
<p>My computer science guy chose to go the private route. He is a rising senior. He’s worked every summer with great pay, last summer he was at Nvidia, this summer at Google. Both companies paid to fly him out, gave him a housing subsidy and paid well. At least four years ago when we went to the accepted students event everyone in the class was employed or in grad school. There’s no question that the Carnegie Mellon name opens doors, but I am sure that kids who go to other programs do well too.</p>
<p>Wow. This is one bad penny of a thread. It keeps rolling back to me. 
</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words about my post about my D, 2boysima. She’s really having a good week. She’s so excited when she calls. Every night. 
I’m sure next week when classes start in earnest and the firehose is aimed directly at her throat, we’ll quickly go back to our usual pattern of phone calls (us calling her whenever a young female is murdered on a TV crime show, her being annoyed at the number of TV crime shows we watch and the fact we have a phone ;)).</p>
<p>well, she hails from a more glamorous demographic, according to bloodthirsty screenwriters. We only earn sympathy for our lack of blood flow through clogged or simply stubborn veins. Dragged a bathtub to a hillside recently?</p>
<p>curmudgeon, glad she’s loving the program. Your daughter clearly made the right choice for her. 
</p>
<p>In general I think pre-meds should seriously consider saving money on undergrad education. I know that in my dh’s med school MD-Phd candidates have grants, but I think it is pretty much loans for most of the others.</p>
<p>Talking about a penny curm, I’ve been on both sides of the coin. Older S turned down full ride nmf schol at USC to go to Cornell with a small schol(I’m still paying for this); he now says he should have considered USC. He didn’t do great; had one bad semester and graduated with a 2.9. He applied to mba school at NYU last year and didn’t get in even though he had top gmat scores. However, he graduated when the economy was great and it took him 9-10 months to land a job (lots of issues there, but that is another story). He was finally hired by a Cornell grad who was in his same major. So, although he didn’t make the most of his time @ Cornell he got a job because of it. He is also life challenged so being on opposite coasts would have been a nightmare for us. But, USC wanted him & would have been a different major something that would have fit him better so who knows it could have been a really good fit. We were not that familiar with USC 10 years ago as well, I remember thinking it was a state school.
I am encouraging my younger S, now a Senior to only apply where he is going to receive substantial merit. I was feeling guilty, but I don’t think so anymore. He is talking med school or grad school so I think it is the best choice. As a Psych major he probably will either graduate and do something totally unrelated or go to grad/med school. He is more of a go-getter though so I think he will do fine wherever he decides to apply himself. Plus he’s not getting in to a top-20 with his gpa, test scores yes, but gpa no.
So, I think in about 8 more years I should be qualified to give a definitive opinion on the subject.<br>
Curm, congrats on your D going to Med School, you must be almost as excited as she is. And, I see she is in my neck of the woods. I had to read like 10 pages of posts to find out where sheis going.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind thoughts and best wishes, all. </p>
<p>ldcinct, I think your kid knowing who they are and you knowing who they are (at least as much as possible with the imperfect data we get) is important. I’ve said it before (maybe even on this thread) : some kids can run from the front and still set their best times. Some kids will perform to their very best when surrounded by the best runners. Or maybe they are capable of doing both. Which kid are you/which kid do you have?</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, you are absolutely correct when you say that your kid needs to know himself, and you need to know him. My oldest, who is a college sophomore, rejected some outstanding schools (all with nice merit money) to take a NM offer at Alabama. It’s the best decision that he could have made. He got 65 credits for his APs, so he can double major, maybe even triple major. He could get a masters. He is in three, excellent honors programs. He does all kinds of great community service things. He already has interned for our Congressman. He has met all kinds of interesting people who can take him to the next level, whatever that level will be. My youngest is a HS freshman. Now, he is coming into his own. He has seen what his brother accomplished. He would like to follow in many of his brother’s footsteps. That is his decision, not mine. He just had a great role model for many things.</p>